Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Appeal 1-starting with cuteness as the 1st element

Scribner

Blair

LET'S GET AWAY FROM THE SHEER UGLINESS OF CARTOON WRITERS TO SOMETHING INFINITELY MORE PLEASANT....CUTENESS!

Disney

HERE'S WHAT FRANK AND OLLIE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT:From The Illusion Of Life#12 APPEALA live performer has charisma. An animated character has appeal. Appealing animation does not mean just being cute and cuddly. All characters have to have appeal whether they are heroic, villainous, comic or cute. Appeal, as you will use it, includes an easy to read design, clear drawing, and personality development that will capture and involve the audience's interest. Early cartoons were basically a series of gags strung together on a main theme. Over the years, the artists have learned that to produce a feature there was a need for story continuity, character development and a higher quality of artwork throughout the entire production. Like all forms of story telling, the feature has to appeal to the mind as well as to the eye.

Hess

I agree with all the 12 principles of animation that Frank and Ollie present in The Illusion Of Life. I believe them even more than they do. Their number 12 principle is "Appeal". I might put that as number 1.

Benedict

The main element that separates a cartoon from other forms of art is its simple appeal. It is all the tastiest parts of visuals paired down to the essential elements that bring instant pleasure.

Natwick

Bowsky?

Without appeal to draw you into the cartoon, you might not find out what else the cartoon has to offer. (I know the philosophy is different now, but that was what cartoons meant when they were invented-visual fun. The fun parts without the boring and ugly details of life.)

Ruth

But what exactly is appeal? It's a hard concept to define. It starts with cuteness as its basic atom. Cuteness in a simplistic definition is usually "attributes of children and young animals". Big heads, big eyes. Smooth soft finish. The attraction to those proportions is genetically programmed in us. We have to learn more about ugly old men before we decide to like them, but most of us automatically like puppies, kittens and kids....and once upon a time....REAL cartoons.

Clampett

Not everyone can draw cute or appealing though, even if they know the basic technical formula. Some people just have a knack for it. These cartoonists make the best designers.

Rice

Curmudgeon

I like to add a pinch of retardation to my cute drawings sometimes to make fun of appeal.

Mickey Mouse is sort of the standard for simple cuteness, although not every animator draws him cute. Freddie Moore sure does.

LITTLE WHIRLWIND

Disney made cartoons for Moms and infants.

Buy the color Mickey DVD if you have little kids or cartoon historians running around the house and you want to calm them down!

Here's a cartoon from 1947 that stars Mickey, yet Mickey is not very cute in it. The differences between cute and nasty Mickey are very subtle. Mickey is actually a really hard character to draw. If you get any feature off just a couple micro increments, the cuteness disappears.

MICKEY DOWN UNDER

Pluto's Party

In the 50s Freddie Moore came back to Mickey and gave him an updated more modern angular design. He also restored his cute appeal.

Strangely, they didn't bother to update Pluto. They left him as bland and unappealing as ever.

PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS

Moore took the fifties design a little further. I love the way Mickey looks in this cartoon. Note how the backgrounds don't match the updated modernistic style of Mickey. Someone was not paying attention.

WACKY CAN BE CUTE AND APPEALING TOOOf all the Warners directors Clampett had the cutest most eye catching appealing style.It's ironic since you don't usually equate crazy edgy stuff with being cute, but that's what made Clampett's edginess so engaging. It's like a bunch of cute innocent looking characters getting away with the nasty stuff we all think about. A great combination!Clampett aimed his cartoons at the general public. Little kids love them because they are cute and funny and really energetic.Older kids like 'em 'cause they are twisted, edgy and surreal.

Clampett inspired Virgil Ross to draw in a cartoony and appealing style.

Scribner had the cutest most natural, unaffected style of all the animators at Warners-while at the same time being the most exaggerated animator. My biggest drawing inspiration!Clampett got McKimson to do the most appealing drawings of his career.Adults like them because they address their most important concerns.

A cartoon drawing should have appeal, but appeal sure isn't an easy ingredient to describe or define.

It starts with 'cuteness". But the word "cute" has lost its meaning.

McKimson not cute or "appealing"

Mckimson was a great animator and really good director, but his cartoons had a less innocent, not at all "cute" style to them. It was more of a cynical middle aged man cartoon style. He drew everyone kinda dumpy and pissed off, like most of my (male) friends!All his characters had tiny pig-like eyes and big fat jowls.Here's Jordan arguing with Ralph. McKimson made cartoons for Dads. They love this stuff! Me too.

Funny as Hell but not cute...

Sometimes Scribner could get away with doing cute stuff for McKimson. Scribner was the king of combining cute with sick.Look at the giant pupils! An instant cute symbol.

Chuck Jones Faux Cute Style

Jones purposely cultivated a cute style. He developed a caricature of cuteness.

His early cartoons aimed at little kids and Moms.

His "middle period" was a lot funnier as he aimed at more general audiences. His style got less cute, more handsome I guess-a grown up cartoon style. It's still great drawing, though.

At the end of his Warners career he reverted to very cute, only this time aimed at critics, rather than kids.Eventually he turned even the stock WB characters all into cutesy characters.

Friz not very appealing

Not Appealing

In the next installment of Appeal, I'll talk about how to draw gross and "pretend-ugly" stuff in an appealing way! Don Martin and Basil Wolverton will assist.

I couldn't stand the fat ugly McKimson Bugs. His personality also changed along with his character design. He went from being a young joker to a pissed off old thug. "Rebel Rabbit" was not even Bugs,just Foghorn Legornn in a rabbit costume.

Hey, John, those pictures of Bugs dressed and acting like Romeo are from A Witch's Tangled Hare which is an Abe Levitow cartoon. Although his drawing style was similar to Jones' so it's an easy mistake to make when one doesn't notice the credits.

But that's beside the point. I totally get what you mean about Jones' faux cuteness. That's what I love about his work. I love the way Bob Clampett used cuteness as well like you described. I think that his knack for cuteness mixed with nastiness culminated perfectly within his Tweety character.Although I don't really respect how Friz let Tweety devolve within his own cartoons, I'll definitely disagree with your sentiments of him. I do find Friz Freleng's work appealing, but definitely in a different way than Clampett, Jones, or anyone else.

"Cute" could've been one of McKimson's weaknesses, as a director. That appeal that he gave under Clampett's supervision is certainly not there in "The Hole Idea". But thanks anyway for posting the funny drawings of his, exactly why I like McKimson's cartoons.

What was going on with those Mickey ears in '40-41? They were in perspective and were colored on the inside - he almost looked like a different character, and definitely lost some of the 'cute' factor. He looked more like a real mouse/rat guy, as opposed to the triple circle head.

Chuck Jones cute can be hilarious but for me he goes so far sometimes making them seem so effeminate and ignorant, like in those bugs bunny pics, it makes me want to see bad things happen to the characters.

Can't wait for your post on how to do appealing ugly instead of ugly ugly though. I think you're a master at that with those lummox characters.

Scribner's drawing style in the Clampett cartoons will always be my favorite.

McKimson's character designs may not be very "cute", but I still find some of them appealing. I happen to like how Daffy Duck looks in cartoons like Boobs in the Woods, Daffy Duck Slept Here, and Daffy Doodles. I love how Daffy has a skinny skull and a big fat red tongue. He's ugly and obnoxious in those cartoons, but I like it.

The Hess Bunnies would have to be the cutest, especially the laughing one!I notice that shark you keep bagging, wasn't that voiced by your mate Jack Black? What's he think of that if it is and he knows?

In December you posted "Life Sucks Part 2 sc 4, Storyboards...."I loved the board of Stimpy watering the garden so much I decided to paint my version of it.It's on my blog www.hryma.blogspot.com aka Cartoons Music Drawing etc.

I can't wait to see your post on Martin and Wolverton. I could never draw toons like Warners or Lantz or even Jones cutesy stuff, but Don Martin's stuff, he is my personal Clampett, he knew slapstick and gags, how to tell a story and how to draw funny and gross but believable carictures and make it look deceptively easy. AND no one could draw a sound effect like Don Martin. I love Wolverton's really gross detail, I could look at that stuff for hours.

This is a little bit off-topic, but it is somewhat related to this topic re: cuteness, and it relates to the previous post. Have you seen Bolek and Lolek, the Polish cartoon series? The artwork in this series reminds me of the old Yogi Bear series. There are no words in the cartoon. The story is told through cartoon acting and incidental music.

When I show this series to people, they are absolutely mesmerized by it (in a good way).

There are a few Bolek and Lolek episodes that are posted on YouTube. This one is my favorite episode (it's called Bolek and Lolek and the Picnic).

>I couldn't stand the fat ugly McKimson Bugs. His personality also changed along with his character design. He went from being a young joker to a pissed off old thug. "Rebel Rabbit" was not even Bugs,just Foghorn Legornn in a rabbit costume.

Oh come on, Rebel Rabbit was McKimson is top directing form!

>Although his drawing style was similar to Jones' so it's an easy mistake to make when one doesn't notice the credits.

Pluto's Party brings back a lot of nostolgia. And yes, I agree, Mickey look is a notch above uber-bland so it's more tolerable.

Appeal is extremely powerful. I think great modern day examples are webtoons today. Most have limited animation, so their drawings really have to count. The ones that have gotten public acclaim usually have very solid character drawings and appeal. (Brackenwood, Arj & Poopy, Fuggy Fuggy, etc . . . )

I love Clampette cartoons, but I remember as a kid, those bulbous looking characters with protruding round features, doing ungodgly things, sometimes freaked me out. I can't remember the name of the toon, but the one where Bugs tortures the living shit out of Elmer in his dreams was really unsettling. He dressing him in drag, strips him naked, and sings that "The rabbits are coming! Hurray! Hurray!" song. That one might have been a bit too much for little kids with an ounce of empathy in their bones.

i think that an important part that makes these characters "cute" or "appealing" is their attitude- they all have a shining optimism, in the face of whatever obstacle they encounter- they have a love of life, and their expression, body language, posture, etc, all say to the viewer, "nothing's gonna keep me down!" We all are instinctively drawn(pun?) to people like this, we all deep down want to believe that the world is fun.

"I can't remember the name of the toon, but the one where Bugs tortures the living shit out of Elmer in his dreams was really unsettling. He dressing him in drag, strips him naked, and sings that "The rabbits are coming! Hurray! Hurray!" song. That one might have been a bit too much for little kids with an ounce of empathy in their bones."

That was Clampett's final WB cartoon, "The Big Snooze" made in 1946. I don't see how it whould be too much for kids really. Bugs was screwing with Elmer as usual.

man i love that yogi and boo boo picture sooo much! any plans of releasing your HandB stuff on dvd?

your posts are great but i was just thinking what could even make them even better is if you drew what you were saying sometime, illustrating your points with new illustrations... i'd love to see you draw pluto right or fix an unappealing character, if possible. don't get me wrong.. i'm not saying you don't illustrate your points with pictures but i would just be EVEN MORE excited to see your next post if it was going to have a brand new never before seen John K sketch in it..

Alright John, how the hell isn't the damn cod from "Nemo" cute and appealing? Granted it's a fairly stock design, but its cute enough that I'd at least smile at it as I slid it across my buttery frying pan.

You present a very convincing case for the sustained encutening of the world, even before this entry I have thought this.

But it is indeed a very difficult thing to legislate for... it's hard to pin down... why, just today I've been toiling trying to get my drawings a bit more cute, or at least, appealing/joyful/disarming/heartwarming and finding I'm tied up in knots over it. I've adopted a strategy of going way over into weird and loose and into really brutally honest caricature before I swing back and focus on the conundrums of Cute once again.

I think... true 'cute' is sincere... you have to really mean it. Which I think must mean being a particular kind of person with a particular kind of outlook or optimism. Some cynical world-weary types wouldn't even recognise cute as a real phenomenon, just a marketing strategy or something. Cute isn't just a manipulative use of big eyes. It's a whole way of being. It requires a philosophical commitment, perhaps.

BTW It's no accident that lots of CGI caps are in your "not cute/appealing" category.

I don't think I've EVER seen cute done right in CGI. I'm amazed how many attempts there have been. Come on guys, it's CGI. CGI is best suited to robotic motion, cold weirdness and funky camera moves. That's why I prefer CGI from the 80s - they exploited its quirks instead of fighting them.

Is it really worth the amount of effort it takes to attempt cute in a creepy medium like CGI? Only if you're under pressure to do so because someone said "2D is dead". Otherwise it's like brushing your teeth with rubbing alcohol.

"Gal" is a humorless, frustratingly typical animation executive bottomfeeder who hates cartoons yet for some reason studios keep hiring him as a 'development executive' although he and his ilk never really 'develop' anything other than misery.

Halfway through reading this I began to think about Basil Wolverton and how his art appeals to me but isn't tackling a whole lot of cute. It was cool to see you'll be talking about him in your next post and now I don't have to ask anything :)

"That was Clampett's final WB cartoon, "The Big Snooze" made in 1946. I don't see how it whould be too much for kids really. Bugs was screwing with Elmer as usual. "

Thanks for the info.

Sure the premise is nothing too different. It was about the level of severity that Bugs goes to. Actually, now that I recall, Elmer wanted to stop bothering Bugs, and Bugs was too much of a bastard to live and let live. Like everyone else, I love to see Bugs get the best of the bad guy, but Bugs throws the first punch here--and it's a hell of a punch. Clampett zaniness on top of it all really multiplies the effect.

Sure, if I saw it today, I'd probably think it amusing if not a little weird (seriously, Elmer Fudd with breasts). Maybe Clampett wanted to go out with a bang. Mission accomplished I suppose.

"Gal" is a humorless, frustratingly typical animation executive bottomfeeder who hates cartoons yet for some reason studios keep hiring him as a 'development executive' although he and his ilk never really 'develop' anything other than misery.

Thanks to you, I'm starting to like McKimson a little more, but I actually think some Freleng stuff like Bird Anonymous or Three Little Bops really look cuter and more appealing than McKimson. I don't think McKimson's drawing style is so funny either, some of his cartoons are very funny but not really because of the drawing style.

Really nice post, as usual, and yeah, those modern examples feel poor in comparison. Well, that Brick Duckbill thing doesn't look SO bad for me (though it is the first time I know about it) and Little Nemo I think he's kinda cute too, but everything else is definitely not appealing at all.

Oh, and that Mickey Mouse in pglatz's link is the weirdest thing I have ever watched...ugh!

Incidentally I watched The Big Snooze as a kid and I loved it. I never really thought too much about Bugs being meaner than usual. I just thought the whole thing was funny as hell. Also, it was all a dream and Bugs had good motivations, he needed Elmer to keep his "job".

How on earth is Pluto unappealing? I mean, it's a very generic design and not nearly as cute as Fred Moore's Mickey, but i certainly don't think it's unappealing--unless you can explain to me how it's unappealing. I always like to learn something new.